Today we introduce a new segment -- the "Sparkliatti Lesson"  These lessons are geared mainly for brides but hopefully other vendors will gleen a little bit out of it as well. 

One reason why I selected Feeding Your Vendors as the first "Lesson" is that it's something that you can easily put into production when you're figuring out your budget.

The first lesson is on feeding your vendors.  It's unfortunate, but my contract spells out the kind of meals that we are fed at weddings -- even if I'm the one organizing the menu and calling in your final counts. I cannot stress to you enough that if you do not think about your vendor meals, the vendors will be in a hurry to go home and stop & McDonald's on the way.  In other words, a well fed vendor is a happy vendor. 

Some things to remember:

1.  Vendors working four consecutive hours or more are served a HOT MEAL.  Most vendor meals are 50% of the guest meal cost.

2.  Vendors should always be seated within earshot of the wedding festivities or they could miss the toasts, cake cutting or anything else spontaneously happening that is either moved up or not on the timeline.

3.  Vendors should NEVER sit at tables in the room with the guests.  Why?  Because it's just tacky.  That's right, I said it.

4.  Vendors should NEVER go through the buffet line with the guests.  Once again...tacky.  It's not that hard for the caterer to put some of the buffet into disposible containers and deliver it buffet style to the vendor area. 

5.  If you have a band that needs to be fed - serve them separately before the other vendors.  for a few reasons:  a) they notoriously eat all the food and leave a huge mess of nothing for all the other vendors & b)  if you feed them first, their breaks will be shorter later.

Don't even get me started on the fact that I was once served a moldy sandwich at a very well known wedding venue in San Francisco. 

Now, let me explain how this works.  You've asked to add vendor meals to your banquet order or menu pricing and the caterer or site has given you a cost.  What you need to know now is...is that a hot meal?  Buffet?  Or is it a box lunch with a soggy sandwich, chips and apple juice?  Please ask and use this rule of thumb:  Whether it's a buffet of lasagne, salad, bread and cookies or a seated meal of chicken, salad and potatoes.  Does not matter, usuallly, to the vendors. 

Also and MOST IMPORTANTLY the vendors need to eat at the same time or before the guests.  Do you want your photographer noshing while you're supposed to do your first dance?  Then why is it so difficult for caterers to understand that it's in the client's best interest to feed us all early?  It all cooks at the same time, so what the heck?  I don't understand it but Brides - stand up and make a point to tell the caterer that this is NECESSARY no matter how much they try to convince you that it's not necessary or it's "not how they normally do it".  What.ever.

When seating your vendors, it's typical that there is a kitchen area or a room within earshot where teh vendors can toss their items down, plug in their battery packs for the photographer & video and have a meal.  Not all vendors dine at the same time so it's a great idea to have a buffet for them and as stated above PLEASE feed the band separately.  As much as we "love" the band -- nothing is more irritating to a vendor than a needy band who just showed up an hour ago and wants their food and we've been there for 10 hours doing hard labor and had a Diet Coke and some stale crackers from the trunk of our car.

Just remember, while it may cost you a few extra bucks, a happy, well fed vendor is more willing to work harder, longer and be less irritable.  In the long run, it makes you the best bride ever!

Food for thought....when was the last time you worked 8 hours straight WITHOUT a break? 

Comments

[Jasmine*]

If I was in church, I'd raise my hand and say, "Amen...Preach on, sistah!" :)
Wonderful and insightful post!

[CeCe]

It's one of those things that no one really thinks about, but it SO important!

Wouldn't you rather have happy people making the magic happen at your wedding.

Fantastic point about being in earshot! As DJ's & Emcees there is very little down time and it SO important not to miss a thing!

Still - I always have my "emergency food" on hand in case of a forgotten vendor meal.

Never something I have to worry about when I work with Sasha though : )!

[saundra, event engineer]

Thank you for this great post.

I believe it is our job as planners to educate both the caterers and our clients. One upscale venue near me never heard of providing vendor meals. Could not believe it! They got 'schooled'.

I'm surprised that some planners have "in their contracts" that they and their staff must be provided a hot meal. Do we really have to spell that out? It saddens me to think so.

[Vicky @ Event Accomplished]

Amen! Thanks for telling our clients to stand up to their caterers! It just drives me batty when I ask the caterer to at least feed the other vendors up front and they look at me like I have 4 heads. Yes, I understand their first priority is the guests, but their first priority should be the bride and groom. Letting the other vendors do their job effectively because they ate early make the bride and groom happy. Period.

[Tim Halberg]

Thank you for posting this. What a great article. I can't believe that caterers don't think of this themselves.

I tend to review caterers by the food they serve to me. I can't exactly review food I haven't eatin, so the only caterers on my referral list are ones who have taken care of me as well as my clients.

I'm always appalled by the local Biltmore hotel and how they find the need to always serve a VERY CRAPPY boxed lunch to vendors... and the one time the bride had paid to allow us to go through her buffet, the staff stopped us and wouldn't allow us to eat and insisted that we could only have a boxed lunch...

[Dianne @ Colorblind Productions]

I absolutely LOVE this post. LOVE. When I work as a dj I find it totally unreasonable to be served dinner last. As they serve me, they are cleaning the plates off other guests making it time for me to start opening up the dancefloor. I don't understand why some caterers just don't get this simple fact. And I applaud those that do.

[Becky Brock]

Fabulous article! We have this in our contract, but I can't tell you how many times I have to explain this to annoyed clients.

Hot food = happy vendors.

[MichelleB]

Thanks for the tips. As a bride-to-be ever since my fiance bought me a diamond engagement ring from www.idonowidont.com (I still can't believe I'm engaged, ladies!) we have been wedding planning 24/7 and will make sure that the vendors are fed well for their hard work. its totally important!

[Larissa Banting]

Thanks so much for this. Reminds me of a big wedding at the Marriott - guests were noshing on lobster and steak, we were fed sandwiches, bag of chips and a bottle of water. Oh, and they ran out. So the photographer, myself and the videographer had to eat the left over appetizers from the guest meals. Seriously. No one is expecting to eat the same meal as the guests but a decent hot meal should be the norm.
Had the bride (who was ahem a Bridezilla) spent a second thinking about all the people making her special day a reality, she would have gotten a lot more out of them. The crummy food was the last straw - nobody went above or beyond that day. She didn't appreciate the vendors, it showed and they knew it.

Or the couple who didn't provide vendor meals for the wedding at an all-inclusive in the middle of nowhere (you cannot get a cracker at a resort if you're not a guest). Vendors had to run to the small nearby town to try to find a little cafeteria open. After that, I included the 4-hour=meal clause in the contract. Fed vendors = happy vendors.

[jessica]

This is such a great post. I hope every bride-to-be takes the time to read the informative info that you took the time to write! It was so insightful. Thanks so much!

[Amanda Auer]

As a coordinator- I love this post! I totally feel every bit of it!! May have to link to think on my blog! :) You go, Sasha!!

[k* to the b*]

and this is one of the many reasons why your events are the best Sasha, you take care of your people.

And yes, the band always eats all the food. My contract says 'hot vegetarian meal' and it never fails that some band member decides they want to 'eat healthy' that day and take my meal in addition to the one they just chomped on.

I think the worst 'vendor meal' I was served was a bucket of KFC and baked beans. When I told them I was veg they went into the kitchen and came back with 4 pieces of iceberg lettuce. No joke. What a slap in the face.

[Bella Signature Design]

Yes, yes YES! I don't know how many times as a vendor I have been fed the dreaded "box lunch' which is usually a sandwich with no condiments and packets of mayo & Yellow mustard on the side, and a bag of chips. Seriously? Not inspiring me to go above and beyond ;) hot food, a 5 minute break to eat it in and some caffeine - I'm rearing to go another 6 hours! I love the idea of writing it into the contracts - bands do it, why not the planner too? After all, it's the planners job to look after all the vendors and make sure they perform at their best, and this is one of those issues that is often overlooked by brides or seen as not important. Thanks for a great post Sasha!

Daniela
Bella Signature Design

[Kelly Oshiro]

a.m.e.n.

You don't want to see me with low blood sugar!

[Rosemary]

I LOVE this post. I am a huge opponent of the "boxed lunch". I recently had a caterer provide a vegetarian photographer (yes, we specified vegetarian in advance) who had worked for about 6 hours straight with big hunks of sausage in the middle of their dinner and then told them they'd have to pick around it.

[Adrienne]

Thanks for the tips! I will keep this in mind - I want to keep them happy!!